Bulk wire delivery system

ABSTRACT

The invention described relates generally to a method and apparatus for improving existing bulk wire transfer methodologies and more particularly, to welding wire packages for use as an endless wire container such that the welding wire of multiple containers can be linked together to produce an uninterrupted flow of welding wire to a welding operation by employing a welding wire transfer guide, the guide having an outwardly-facing curvilinear groove, one end of said groove of said welding wire transfer guide positioned along a tangent line running between an outer diameter of the in-process coil of wire and an opposed end of said groove along a tangent line running between an inner diameter of the staged coil of welding wire. The apparatus further includes a magnetically positionable wire guide arm above at least two, preferably each bulk welding wire container.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to pending U.S. Patent Application Ser.No. 61/711,558 filed on Oct. 9, 2012, the contents of which are fullyincorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention described herein pertains generally to a method andapparatus for improving existing bulk wire transfer methodologies andmore particularly, to welding wire packages for use as an endless wirecontainer such that the welding wire of multiple containers can belinked together to produce an uninterrupted flow of welding wire to awelding operation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Welding wire used in high production operations, such as robotic weldingstations, is provided in large packages having over 200 pounds of wire.The welding wire in these packages is looped into convolutions of wireloops forming a wire coil extending around a central core or a centralclearance bore.

However, even the use of large packaging does not eliminate down-timefor the welding operation when the welding wire of the packaging orcontainer is exhausted. Even if a new container of welding wire isstaged for a quick changeover, the welding wire from the new containermust be threaded through the feeding apparatuses and to the weldingtorch. As can be appreciated, this can cause significant downtime,especially for welding operations that consume a large quantity ofwelding wire. Accordingly, it has been proposed to butt weld thetrailing end of the welding wire from one container to the leading endof the welding wire from another container. As the wire is exhausted inone container, the last remaining loop rises in the container and foldsover itself to produce an e-script tangle condition. As can beappreciated, the e-script tangle forces the operation to be shut down sothat the e-script can be removed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a weldingwire transfer system for use with at least a pair of endless weldingwire containers, at least one of said containers is an in-process supplycontainer containing a coil of wire and at least one other of saidcontainers is a staged supply container containing a coil of wire with astart end of said staged container welding wire butt-welded to a tail ofsaid in-process container welding wire, which includes: a verticalshaft; and a horizontal shaft extending normal to the vertical shaft andcontaining a welding wire transfer guide, the guide having anoutwardly-facing curvilinear groove, one end of the groove of thewelding wire transfer guide positioned nearly tangent to an outerdiameter of the in-process coil of wire and an opposed end of the groovepositioned nearly tangent to an inner diameter of the staged coil ofwelding wire. In one aspect of the invention, the welding wire transferguide is fixed on said horizontal shaft, while in another aspect of theinvention, the welding wire transfer guide is horizontally positionablealong the horizontal shaft.

In one embodiment, the welding wire transfer system further includes: amagnetically positionable wire transfer arm, the vertical shaft having apivotable collar and at least one magnet and a fixed collar having atleast two magnets in a spaced apart relationship. In another embodiment,the fixed collar will have at least four magnets in a spaced apartrelationship.

Each welding wire container may be fitted with an optional dome havingat least two slots in at least one side in a geometric relationshipwhich permits one end of the groove of the welding wire transfer guidewhich is positioned nearly tangent to the outer diameter of thein-process coil of wire to access at least one of the at least twoslots.

In another aspect of the invention, the welding wire transfer guide willact as a retention means for said welding wire as it moves from saidstaged coil container to the in-process coil container.

In a further embodiment of the invention, a welding wire transfer standis described for use with at least a pair of endless welding wirecontainers, at least one of said containers is an in-process supplycontainer containing a coil of wire and at least one other of saidcontainers is a staged supply container containing a coil of wire with astart end of the staged container welding wire butt-welded to a tail ofthe in-process container welding wire, which includes: a vertical shaft;and a magnetically positionable wire transfer arm proximate to the top,the vertical shaft having a pivotable collar and at least one magnet anda fixed collar having at least two magnets in a spaced apartrelationship. The fixed collar may have at least four magnets in aspaced apart relationship.

The welding wire transfer stand may further include: a horizontal shaftextending normal to the vertical shaft and including a welding wiretransfer guide, the guide having an outwardly-facing curvilinear groove,one end of the groove of the welding wire transfer guide positionednearly tangent to an outer diameter of the in-process coil of wire andan opposed end of the groove positioned nearly tangent to an innerdiameter of the staged coil of welding wire. The transfer stand mayinclude a welding wire retention means, which may be the welding wiretransfer guide.

These and other objects of this invention will be evident when viewed inlight of the drawings, detailed description and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may take physical form in certain parts and arrangementsof parts, a preferred embodiment of which will be described in detail inthe specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings whichform a part hereof, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the wire dispensing system showinga pair of wire packages containing welding wire;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top elevational view of reversible welding wiretransfer plate illustrating an outwardly facing curvilinear transfertube;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the welding wire container top or dome;

FIG. 4 is top elevational view of a bulk welding wire container top ordome with associated cut-out of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a top elevational view of two adjacent wire dispensingpackages with proper positioning of an outwardly facing curvilineartransfer tube in which the welding wire is being fed in a left to rightmanner and for which the in-process coil of wire is positioned to theright and the staged coil of wire is positioned to the left, thepositioning of the respective ingress and egress openings in thetransfer tube being along a tangent line running between the outerdiameter of the in-process coil of wire and the inner diameter of thestaged coil of wire;

FIG. 6 is a top elevational view of two adjacent wire dispensingpackages with proper positioning of an outwardly facing curvilineartransfer tube in which the welding wire is being fed in a right to leftmanner and for which the in-process coil of wire is positioned to theleft and the staged coil of wire is positioned to the right, thepositioning of the respective ingress and egress openings in thetransfer tube being along a tangent line running between the outerdiameter of the in-process coil of wire and the inner diameter of thestaged coil of wire;

FIG. 7 is a top perspective view of an alternative embodiment of awelding wire container top or dome illustrating a wishbone series ofslots; and

FIG. 8 is a side view of a top portion of a magnetic rotating weldingwire guide.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The best mode for carrying out the invention will now be described forthe purposes of illustrating the best mode known to the applicant at thetime of the filing of this patent application. The examples and figuresare illustrative only and not meant to limit the invention, which ismeasured by the scope and spirit of the claims.

As best illustrated in FIG. 1, the invention relates to an “endless”wire transfer stand 10 which involves at least two wire coils of weldingwire 12,14 positioned within respective welding wire containers 16,18.Wire dispensing stand 10 includes frame 20, wire transfer arm 22, wirefeeder 24, and wire guide conduits 26,28. Frame 10 allows forpositioning at least a pair of welding wire coils 12,14 in aside-by-side position. As illustrated in the figure, frame 10 allows forpositioning of welding wire containers 16,18 containing respective wirecoils 12,14 by horizontal side arms 30 and center arm 32. It isunderstood that additional welding wire containers with respectivewelding wire coils may be positioned about wire transfer stand 10 asphysical space and geometry permit. Each of these additional weldingwire containers may have their respective welding wire “daisy-chained”or welded together as appropriate to meet the needs of the weldingoperation. Wire transfer stand 10 includes vertical center post 34positioned between at least two welding wire containers 16,18.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4 & 7, each of at least two welding wirecontainers 16,18 further may optionally include a removable generallyhemispherical top or other geometrically-shaped dome 36 positionedthereupon, recognizing that the inclusion of a top is optional and not arequired aspect of the invention, the top typically serving to preventwelding contaminants from coming into contact with the welding wire. Inone aspect of the invention, the top of each welding wire container isessentially identical and positioned about a top periphery of eachcontainer in a mirror image fashion, the dome having at least a partialcut-out portion 48 sufficiently sized for access of guide conduit 28 aswell as wire guide conduit transfer component 38 when positioned eitherin a left-to-right or right-to-left orientation when wire guide conduittransfer component 38 is positioned thereupon and affixed to shaft 40.As illustrated in FIG. 7, one wishbone aperture is illustrated whichpermits the alignment described hereinbefore. However, when multiplecontainers are employed with the optional tops or domes, it isrecognized that multiple wishbone apertures would be positioned aboutthe center of the top or dome.

As better illustrated in FIG. 2, wire guide transfer component 38includes top plate 42 with wire transfer plate 44 affixed thereto, thecombination forming fixed wire transfer plate 46 which is insertableonto or into shaft 40 using known mechanical affixing methods known tothose skilled in the art. A non-limiting and exemplary list is for shaft40 to be an n-sided shaft (wherein n is at least three) with a matingshaft opening attached to the bottom of top plate 42. Alternatively,shaft 40 may be essentially circular with a mating shaft openingattached to the bottom of top plate 42 and wherein rotation is inhibitedby the inclusion of a set screw. Yet another approach involves theconcept of a notched rest. The top of wire transfer plate 44 has aretention groove 52 through which welding wire 50 travels during thecross-over from one welding wire staged container into an in-processcontainer. The orientation of groove 52 has been determined to at leastplay a role in minimizing various possible welding wire tangles, e.g.,the tendency of bulk welding wire during payout to form an “e-script”among others. As better illustrated in FIG. 5, the wire transfer plateis orientated in anticipation of a left to right transfer, i.e., thein-process coil of wire is positioned to the right and the staged coilof wire is positioned to the left, and the positioning of groove 52 isfrom a nearly tangent line running between the outer diameter of thein-process coil of wire and the inner diameter of the staged coil ofwire, this positioning determined by the direction of transfer. Thetangent line described is the natural line which the welding wire takesduring the transfer from the just-emptied wire package to the fullendless wire package, and which serves to reduce imposed stress energyin the wire transfer loop that often leads to tangling opportunities.Additionally, and counterintuitively, curved retention groove 52 isoriented in a curvilinear manner in which the direction of the curve isfacing outwardly and the inlet and outlets of the curved retentiongroove are positioned approximately nearly along a tangent line betweenthe outer diameter of the in-process coil of wire and the inner diameterof the staged coil of wire. As illustrated in FIG. 6, by repositioningand turning reversible wire transfer plate 46 by 180° around the pivotpoint, wire payouts which are directioned from right to left areaccommodated. It is further recognized that shaft 40 is verticallypositionable and fastenable upon vertical center post 34 to permitdifferent height wire containers. It is further recognized that thepivot point of reversible wire transfer plate 46 is also verticallyadjustable.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, dome 36 is optional and illustrated asgenerally hemispherical in shape. However, as illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4& 7, the geometry may be other than hemispherical, and may berectangular-shaped at a base and more frustoconical as the domeprogresses toward its apex. In either shape, dome 36 will have anapertured side in which cut-out 48 extends from a top of the dome to thebase of the dome. As illustrated in FIGS. 5 & 6, a transfer system isillustrated in which no domes are positioned upon the bulk wiredispensing containers, the containers either having no lids or partiallids which have appropriate cut-outs sufficiently dimensioned to permitthe wire to transition between containers.

In one embodiment of the invention, wire transfer arm 22 is pivotallymounted on vertical center post 34 and has 360° of rotation. The armrotates with bearings. This configuration permits more than two weldingwire containers to be pre-positioned and joined in an array about post34, allowing larger amounts of wire to be run in a continuous fashionwith resultant reductions in attendant time for the package setuptechnician.

As better illustrated in FIG. 8, in one implementation of thisembodiment, conduit support arm 22 is pivotable about frame 20 intodefined and fixed positions by the matching of at least one magnet 60within bearing block collar 64 and fixed positioning magnets 62 on topof frame column 20. This arrangement allows magnetic stops to couplewithout having to hit a stop and allow the necessary positioning duringnormal dispensing, but break free to follow the transfer wire.Therefore, as the welding wire is completely dispensed from thein-process coil of wire package, the magnetic force to retain the wiretransfer arm over that package is overcome and the arm pivots to aposition above what had previously been the staged coil of wire package.The sequence for the wire transfer arm is repeated for each successivewire package, illustrated to be approximately 90° in FIG. 8.

The best mode for carrying out the invention has been described forpurposes of illustrating the best mode known to the applicant at thetime. The examples are illustrative only and not meant to limit theinvention, as measured by the scope and merit of the claims. Theinvention has been described with reference to preferred and alternateembodiments. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur toothers upon the reading and understanding of the specification. It isintended to include all such modifications and alterations insofar asthey come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalentsthereof.

1. A welding wire transfer system for use with at least a pair ofendless welding wire containers, at least one of said containers is anin-process supply container containing a coil of wire and at least oneother of said containers is a staged supply container containing a coilof wire with a start end of said staged container welding wirebutt-welded to a tail of said in-process container welding wire, whichcomprises: a vertical shaft; and a horizontal shaft extending normal tosaid vertical shaft and comprising a welding wire transfer guide, saidguide having a groove, one end of said groove of said welding wiretransfer guide positioned nearly tangent to an outer diameter of thein-process coil of wire and an opposed end of said groove positionednearly tangent to an inner diameter of the staged coil of welding wire.2. The welding wire transfer system of claim 1 wherein said welding wiretransfer guide is fixed on said horizontal shaft.
 3. The welding wiretransfer system of claim 1 wherein said welding wire transfer guide ishorizontally positionable along said horizontal shaft. 4.-5. (canceled)6. The welding wire transfer system of claim 1 wherein each of saidin-process coil of welding wire container and said staged coil ofwelding wire container further comprise a dome having at least two slotsin at least one side in a geometric relationship which permits one endof said groove of said welding wire transfer guide which is positionednearly tangent to said outer diameter of the in-process coil of wire toaccess at least one of said at least two slots.
 7. A welding wiretransfer system for use with at least a pair of endless welding wirecontainers, at least one of said containers is an in-process supplycontainer containing a coil of wire and at least one other of saidcontainers is a staged supply container containing a coil of wire with astart end of said staged container welding wire butt-welded to a tail ofsaid in-process container welding wire, which comprises: a verticalshaft; and a horizontal shaft extending normal to said vertical shaftand comprising a welding wire transfer guide, said guide having agroove, one end of said groove of said welding wire transfer guidepositioned nearly tangent to an outer diameter of the in-process coil ofwire and an opposed end of said groove positioned nearly tangent to aninner diameter of the staged coil of welding wire; and said welding wiretransfer guide acting as a retention means for said welding wire as itmoves from said staged coil container to said in-process coil container.8. The welding wire transfer system of claim 7 wherein saidoutwardly-facing curvilinear retention means is a groove.
 9. The weldingwire transfer system of claim 7 wherein said welding wire transfer guideis fixed on said horizontal shaft.
 10. The welding wire transfer systemof claim 7 wherein said welding wire transfer guide is horizontallypositionable along said horizontal shaft. 11.-12. (canceled)
 13. Thewelding wire transfer system of claim 7 wherein each of said in-processcoil of welding wire container and said staged coil of welding wirecontainer further comprise a dome having at least two slots in at leastone side in a geometric relationship which permits one end of saidgroove of said welding wire transfer guide which is positioned nearlytangent to said outer diameter of the in-process coil of wire to accessat least one of said at least two slots. 14.-18. (canceled)